Contents

Early life

Irons was born in Cowes, Isle of Wight, the son of Barbara Anne Brereton Brymer Sharpe Irons (née Sharpe) (1914–1999), a housewife, and Paul Dugan Irons (1913–1983), an accountant.[1] Part of his maternal ancestry is Irish,[2] and his great-grandfather was one of the first Metropolitan Policemen and later a chartist. Irons has a brother, Christopher (born 1943) and a sister, Felicity Anne (born 1944), both older. He was educated at the independent Sherborne School in Dorset, (c. 1962–1966). He achieved some fame as the drummer and harmonica player (most memorably for his rendition of "Moon River" on harmonica) in a four-man school band called the Four Pillars of Wisdom. They performed, in a classroom normally used as a physics lab, for the entertainment of boys compulsorily exiled from their houses for two hours on Sunday afternoons. He was also known within Abbey House as half of a comic duo performing skits on Halloween and at end-of-term House Suppers.

Almost as a 'lap of honour' after these major successes, in 1982 he played the leading role of an exiled Polish building contractor, working in the Twickenham area of South West London, in Jerzy Skolimowski's independent film Moonlighting, widely seen on television, a performance which extended his acting range.

Audio

One of his best known film roles has turned out to be the voice of Scar in The Lion King (1994). Irons has since provided voiceovers for two Disney World attractions. He narrated the Spaceship Earth ride, housed in the large geodesic globe at Epcot, from November 1994 to July 2007. He also voiced H.G. Wells in the English version of the former Disney attraction The Timekeeper.

He serves as the English-language version of the audio guide for Westminster Abbey in London.

Music

In 1985, Irons directed a music video for Carly Simon and her heavily promoted single, "Tired of Being Blonde". Although the song was not a hit, the video —featuring the fast cutting, parallel narratives and heavy use of stylized visual effects that were a staple of pop videos at the time— received ample attention on MTV and other outlets.

In 1994 Jeremy Irons had a cameo role in the video for Elastica's hit single 'Connection'. Irons was one of the many naked men sitting down around Elastica as they performed the song. Irons has since claimed that this 3 minute slice of nudity was his most enjoyable work to date.

Jeremy Irons also has a full song named "Be Prepared" that takes part in the movie The Lion King. However, he actually sang only a section of the song after having vocal problems, Jim Cummings finished the last few lines of the song. This song can be found in the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack of the movie.

Theatre

Irons has twice worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1976 and 1986–87.[8] In 1984, Irons made his New York debut and won a Tony Award for his Broadway performance opposite Glenn Close in The Real Thing.

Personal life

Irons married Irish actress Sinéad Cusack in March, 1978. They have two sons, Samuel James Brefni Irons (16 September 1978), who works as a photographer, and Maximilian Paul Diarmuid Irons (17 October 1985), also an actor who appeared in the 2006 Burberry fashion campaign. Both of Irons' sons have appeared in films with their father, Sam in Danny, Champion of the World and Max in Being Julia. Irons now lives in the small town of Watlington in Oxfordshire and the village of Ballydehob, in County Cork in Ireland.

He is also the patron since 2002 of the Thomley Activity Centre,[13] an Oxfordshire non-profit activity centre for disabled children. Irons owns Kilcoe Castle (which he had painted a rusty pink) in County Cork, Ireland, and has become involved in local politics there. He also has another Irish residence in The Liberties, Dublin. Irons is a patron of the Chiltern Shakespeare Company.[14] He is a fan of English football club Portsmouth.[15]

At the 1991 Tony Awards, Irons was one of the few celebrities to wear the recently created red ribbon to support the fight against AIDS, and he was the first celebrity to wear it onscreen.[16][17] He supports a number of other charities, including The Prison Phoenix Trust of which he is an active patron.[18]

Politics

In 1998 Irons was named, along with his wife Sinéad Cusack, in a list of the biggest private financial donors to the Labour Party.[19] In 2004 he publicly declared his support for the Countryside Alliance, referring to the hunting ban as an "outrageous assault on civil liberties".[20]

Work

Theatre

Following training at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre school Irons initially stayed with the company:

Contents

Early life

Irons was born in Cowes, Isle of Wight, the son of Barbara Anne Brereton Brymer Sharpe Irons (née Sharpe; 1914–1999), a housewife, and Paul Dugan Irons (1913–1983), an accountant.[1] Part of his maternal ancestry is Irish,[2] and his great-grandfather was one of the first Metropolitan Policemen and later a chartist. Irons has a brother, Christopher (born 1943) and a sister, Felicity Anne (born 1944), both older. He was educated at the independent Sherborne School in Dorset, (c. 1962–1966). He achieved some fame as the drummer and harmonica player (most memorably for his rendition of "Moon River" on harmonica) in a four-man school band called the Four Pillars of Wisdom. They performed, in a classroom normally used as a physics lab, for the entertainment of boys compulsorily exiled from their houses for two hours on Sunday afternoons. He was also known within Abbey House as half of a comic duo performing skits on Halloween and at end-of-term House Suppers. Irons is Catholic.[3]

Almost as a 'lap of honour' after these major successes, in 1982 he played the leading role of an exiled Polish building contractor, working in the Twickenham area of South West London, in Jerzy Skolimowski's independent film Moonlighting, widely seen on television, a performance which extended his acting range.

He serves as the English-language version of the audio guide for Westminster Abbey in London.

Music

In 1985, Irons directed a music video for Carly Simon and her heavily promoted single, "Tired of Being Blonde". Although the song was not a hit, the video —featuring the fast cutting, parallel narratives and heavy use of stylized visual effects that were a staple of pop videos at the time— received ample attention on MTV and other outlets.

In 1994 Jeremy Irons had a cameo role in the video for Elastica's hit single 'Connection'. Irons was one of the many naked men sitting down around Elastica as they performed the song. Irons has since claimed that this 3 minute slice of nudity was his most enjoyable work to date.

Jeremy Irons also has a full song named "Be Prepared" that takes part in the movie The Lion King. However, he actually sang only a section of the song after having vocal problems, Jim Cummings finished the last few lines of the song. This song can be found in the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack of the movie.

Theatre

Irons has worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company three times in 1976, 1986–87 and 2010.[9] In 1984, Irons made his New York debut and won a Tony Award for his Broadway performance opposite Glenn Close in The Real Thing.

Personal life

Irons married Irish actress Sinéad Cusack in March, 1978. They have two sons, Samuel James Brefni Irons (16 September 1978), who works as a photographer, and Maximilian Paul Diarmuid Irons (17 October 1985), also an actor who appeared in the 2006 Burberry fashion campaign. Both of Irons' sons have appeared in films with their father, Sam in Danny, Champion of the World and Max in Being Julia. Irons now lives in the small town of Watlington in Oxfordshire and the village of Ballydehob, in County Cork in Ireland.

He is also the patron since 2002 of the Thomley Activity Centre,[14] an Oxfordshire non-profit activity centre for disabled children. Irons owns Kilcoe Castle (which he had painted a rusty pink) in County Cork, Ireland, and has become involved in local politics there. He also has another Irish residence in The Liberties, Dublin. Irons is a patron of the Chiltern Shakespeare Company.[15] He is a fan of English football club Portsmouth.[16]

At the 1991 Tony Awards, Irons was one of the few celebrities to wear the recently created red ribbon to support the fight against AIDS, and he was the first celebrity to wear it onscreen.[17][18] He supports a number of other charities, including The Prison Phoenix Trust of which he is an active patron.[19]

Politics

In 1998 Irons was named, along with his wife Sinéad Cusack, in a list of the biggest private financial donors to the Labour Party.[20] In 2004 he publicly declared his support for the Countryside Alliance, referring to the hunting ban as an "outrageous assault on civil liberties".[21]

In 2010 Irons starred in a promotional video[22] for “The 1billionhungry project” -- a worldwide drive to attract at least one million signatures to a petition calling on international leaders to move hunger to the top of the political agenda.[23]

Work

Theatre

Following training at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre school Irons initially stayed with the company:

From Wikiquote

Unsourced

I've never been passionate about acting, and I find more and
more that I work to live the life I want to live. An actor like Al
Pacino lives to act. I'm not sure though, there's something about
the detachment I have, the feeling of the lack of importance about
what I do, that is healthy.

As you get older, you look back and try to make sense of the
sort of person you have become. And I think the most important
thing that happened in my childhood was the first night I went to
boarding school at the age of seven. I remember that night, and the
loneliness. Also, my parents' marriage broke up when I was 15. But
I think it was that first night at seven years old when I felt
something had broken, and I've spent my life trying to get back to
that feeling of home. It's the same sense of family that you find
in the theater and movies. In fact, I'm hoping to make a film about
that very subject - the need for home. You don't really have a home
until you have children. And that home is created by the
children.

If we have to pay taxes [for Emmy gift bags], so be it. But
don't spend it on bombs, for Christ's sake.

The movie industry is run by accountants in Hollywood and it's
as simple as this; everyone has a number on their computer. They
can look up Jeremy Irons and see what my last five movies have
made. Say you want to make a $20m picture, which is relatively
cheap. If Jeremy makes $9m, the director makes $5m, then you need a
leading lady, and they just go through those figures - that's how
casting happens. And none of my movies has made a lot of
money.

[When asked by an interviewer about why he accepted his
role in Dungeons & Dragons] Are you kidding? I'd just
bought a castle, I had to pay for it somehow!